Exploring the format of sensorimotor information in human speech perception

早期语言学习的一个特点是婴儿最初能很好地感知语言，但直到后来才有相应的先进的语言表达方式。因此，目前尚不清楚成人语言感知和生产之间普遍观察到的高度互动联系是如何发展的。在NSERC的支持下，我将探索一种可能性，即关于非语言手势（如咀嚼、吸吮或呼吸）的感觉和运动（sensorimotor）信息，这些都是出生后不久产生的手势，与婴儿语言感知相互作用，这是成人语言感知和产生之间相互作用的先驱。我还将询问非言语手势信息是否以及如何继续影响成人的言语感知。我提出的研究的长期目标是a)了解关于所有类型的声音运动控制，言语或非言语的感觉运动信息是否以及如何与言语感知相关联，b)了解这些信息的格式在整个生命周期中是如何变化的。短期内，我将重点研究言语感知与咀嚼、吸吮或呼吸等非言语手势之间的相互作用，因为这些都是婴儿和成人都可以产生的声道手势。4到18个月大的婴儿将被调查，因为这是一个语言产生能力发生巨大发展变化的时期，我的研究小组将使用经典的工具，如父母问卷，但也使用计算方法（例如，全天录音的自然语言处理），以及婴儿面部肌肉激活的肌电记录来测量。我的研究小组还将在成人中探索类似的问题，研究呼吸或咀嚼/吸吮手势的更精确元素，如嘴唇运动的动态特性，或呼吸时气流的方向和速度，是如何影响成人的语言感知的。这项研究对语言学、语言科学、心理学和神经科学的研究具有重要的科学意义，因为现在对早期声音发育如何影响或塑造人类语言感知的学习知之甚少，反之亦然。这项工作也将有重要的临床应用，因为理解语言的感知和运动系统之间的相互作用对于区分、诊断和治疗由感知或运动起源的语言病理至关重要。

A hallmark of early speech learning is that infants initially perceive speech well, but do not have correspondingly advanced ways of producing speech until later ages. It thus remains unclear how the commonly observed, and highly interactive links between adult speech perception and production develop. A possibility I will explore with NSERC support is that sensory and motor (sensorimotor) information about non-speech gesturessuch as chewing, sucking, or breathing, which are all gestures produced soon after birthinteract with infant speech perception, which is a precursor of adult-like interactions between speech perception and production. I will also ask whether and how non-speech gesture information may continue to inform adult speech perception.The long-term goals of my proposed research are a) to understand whether and how sensorimotor information about all types of vocal motor control, speech or non-speech, are linked to speech perception, and b) to understand how the format of this information changes throughout the lifespan. In the short-term I will focus on studying the interactions between speech perception and non-speech gestures like chewing, sucking, or breathing, as these are vocal tract gestures that can be produced by both infants and adults.Infants from 4 to 18 months of age will be investigated, as this is a period of dramatic developmental change in speech production ability, which my research group will measure using classic tools like parental questionnaires, but also using computational methods (e.g., natural language processing of daylong audio recordings), as well as electromyographical recordings of infants' facial muscle activation. My research group will also explore similar questions in adults, investigating how the more precise elements of breathing or chewing /sucking gestureslike the dynamic properties of lip movements, or the direction and velocity of airflow while breathingaffect adult speech perception. This research has important scientific implications for the study of linguistics, speech science, psychology, and neuroscience, because so little is now understood about how early vocal development informs or shapes learning in human speech perception, and vice versa. This work will also have important clinical applications, because understanding interactions between perceptual and motor systems for speech is crucial for distinguishing, diagnosing, and treating speech pathologies with either perceptual or motor origins.